Comments on: 16 reasons why the Twitter @message change isn’t a big deal…

By: Twitter’s Reply Changes, Not A Big Deal - Blog by Jon Bishop

Twitter’s Reply Changes, Not A Big Deal - Blog by Jon Bishop — Wed, 13 May 2009 16:35:53 +0000

[...] for all the people complaining about losing their method of finding new tweeps to follow, there are PLENTY of ways to find new followers. Twitter even went so far as to say they would be implementing new methods of finding like minded [...]

By: Yvette

Yvette — Wed, 13 May 2009 14:35:13 +0000

David, that’s exactly the point of the brouhaha – twitter took away any choice in the matter. Those who don’t want to see those ’3rd party replies’ had the choice and those who did, did. Now there’s no choice whatsoever. Seems a bit Draconian to me, especially since itt seems to have been made without warning.

By: David Sim

David Sim — Wed, 13 May 2009 13:03:31 +0000

QVAEmma is spot on. Twitter clients will be adapted to get round the problem, meaning “replies” turn into “mentions” and it becomes more difficult to see that a tweet is, in fact, a reply.

I don’t think it’s the huge deal it’s made out to be, but I also can’t understand why Twitter didn’t make it an option.

By: Local Tradesmen

Local Tradesmen — Wed, 13 May 2009 12:43:27 +0000

Hi Nikki I’m a Twitter newbie think I followed what you where saying, but to make sure will read again shall grab the feed so i can keep up to date.

Thanks
Find Local Tradesmen

By: QVAEmma

QVAEmma — Wed, 13 May 2009 11:06:43 +0000

Have realised that I did kind of miss the point anyway and you can just write your message before the @reply instead of after the @reply. So it doesn’t really make any difference but it may change the way people tweet.

By: Grant Bodie

Grant Bodie — Wed, 13 May 2009 10:41:43 +0000

Hi Nikki.

We kind of talked about this a little earlier so some people will have seen my views on it…..unless they don’t follow us both of course!

Seriously i don’t use the function so won’t miss it but the way i see it there are two key issues here
1) Why remove ANY setting once it is in place and liked by even a small % of your users? Twitter is used in many ways and if some people liked that way of finding new people why take it away?

2) If someone was new to Twitter a month ago and played around with the settings this method of finding new people may have kept them on board as users. They would see how people use twitter in different ways and find a style that suits them. If that same person joined now they might not stay long enough to find out about all the other (more effective) ways of locating interesting and relevant people because their experience was less interesting.

I’m not in uproar. I haven’t hashtagged any complaints, at the end of the day it is Twitters choice and IMHO a mistake but i don’t think it will ruin the business – just change it….very slightly.

That’s probably slightly more than 2p’s worth!

By: Peter Ramsden

Peter Ramsden — Wed, 13 May 2009 10:32:36 +0000

Cheer up Nikki.

I think that Twitter have missed a massive point here. If you follow someone you are following them – warts and all. Why would I only want to read their “general tweets” Social networking is about getting to know the other person. This change means that part of them is missing.

I wondered why my twitter streams had dropped to a drip. Now I know why. I only get them if they are general tweets, or DM’s.

I have made some great contacts by checking out @replies profiles if the topic seems interesting. I simply go and look at the persons profile and tweets and make a decision to follow them or not. This is better than doing searches as they are already in my groups “circle”

For example I would not have found Shaun G was it not for your at replies or FF’s. That would mean I could not have sent him a lead. I found a regeneration expert by and @replies by someone I was following. I have recommended others through finding people via @replies.

I guess the positive side mean I have less Tweets to manage. But I feel I am losing some of the real value of twitter.

Hope you are smiling,

Peter

By: Tom Crellin

Tom Crellin — Wed, 13 May 2009 10:26:42 +0000

As a twitter newbie, I found it very useful to see who was chatting with who so that I could choose to follow these people and join in the conversation. As I am particularly interested in the local business community, this is a very easy method – you can pick up very quickly who is in the community without having to rely on information they may or may not have updated on some twitter following website.

I can well see that, as the twitter stream starts getting busier and I cast the net much wider than just friends of friends, I will begin to think as you that these half-conversations are just a nuisance. However, I still want the option rather than having twitter decide for me.

By: Nik

Nik — Wed, 13 May 2009 10:24:53 +0000

All seems perfectly fair and balanced to me. But then I, like you, have this setting applied already. Yes, there’s a chance that we might miss out on the odd nugget of a new Twitterer. But this “loss” is far out weighed by the benefits.

By: QVAEmma

QVAEmma — Wed, 13 May 2009 10:22:54 +0000

Silly question maybe….but if the @message function will only be viewed by those that are following that person – will that not effect retweets? Surely the same applies if you send a RT @blahblah if you don’t follow blahblah you won’t see the retweet – right? Or did I miss a trick there? :/